Chapter 76 – Return to the Knossos Guild (1/2)

I was still fuzzy on the details, but for some reason this dragonkin wanted to become my subordinate.

Or rather, he made himself just that, regardless of what I had to say about it. No matter how much I tried to stop him, he refused to let it go. Claret and Alicia weren't much help either. Claret saw this as entirely a good thing and welcomed the idea of me having people who would use their life to protect mine.

Alicia on the other hand just thought that it was nice for us to be a bigger group, and this Magni guy was strong enough to follow me around.

Though that was the first thing that I forbade. At least in the short term.

Giving up on the idea of trying to get him to take back his pledge of loyalty, to think that the one line he said was considered a pledge, I had him stand by at the Brokecleft Mountain Range. Both Claret and Magni thought that it was a bad idea for him to enter Knossos city when he didn't have any invisibility skills or magic.

Of course, having him leave immediately after pledging his loyalty didn't sit well with him, so I had to promise that I would go pick him up on my way home once I finished some business in the area. Frankly, I was just pushing back the issue, but the fact that I wanted to at least give finding clues to giving Alicia a new body one more shot before I had to resort to independent research.

I couldn't see such a thing going well, so even if I became the world's foremost expert on the subject of creating a new body, I wasn't sure how long such research would take when I was spending most of my time hiding from hitmen sent by those god-like beings.

After promising to rendezvous with Magni in a few weeks and seriously pressing on the matter that he lay low and do his best not to be spotted while he waited for me, we parted ways and I moved to return to Knossis.

Spreading out my wings again, with a great flap my body lifted up into the air like a rocket. Claret held on tight to my neck as she dangled like a cape on my back.

As I reached the apex of my flight, the oppressive brightness of the sun spread out from the horizon and engulfed my body. Pulling down my hood as far as I could, I flipped my body into a shallow dive to temporarily escape from the sun's assault on my senses.

With a final flap of my wings, I transitioned into a glide and we made our way back to the city at a pace slow enough that the little fluffballs can keep up with while keeping myself invisible thanks to [Spirit Form].

It didn't take long before the city's gates were in sight. At least, on the occasion when I mustered enough courage to peek from under my hood. The fact that I've managed to burn my chin a few times as my hood flapped around while I peeked didn't help matters in the slightest.

As I idly wondered if it was possible to get my hands on vampire grade suntan lotion or something else that would protect me from casual sunlight exposure, we touched down on the ground and I quickly moved out of sight from the gates.

The moment I disengaged [Spirit Form], I got out from a particularly tall patch of grass and made way to the road on foot before making the rest of the way to the city.

Very soon I had arrived in the city's Adventurers' Guild.

The inside the building was a loud cacophony of people going about their business. From checking the requests wall to waiting in line for a receptionist, to sitting around at one of the tables waiting for one thing or another.

Since all needed I to do was report on the request I already had, so I simply went straight to one of the lines for a receptionist. All the lines here were long, but most likely it was because the guild had only just opened and everyone wanted to get set up and go on their requests for the day.

”Welcome to the Knossos Adventurers' Guild. How may I help you?”

The man behind the counter was relatively young looking, but half of the glove he was wearing on his right hand looked stiff and flopped casually as he moved his arms. My guess was that he was missing everything had his thumb and index finger on his right hand.

”Ah, I need to talk to the guild master regarding something he requested. Here's my guild card.”

I presented the little metal business card.

”Miss Scarlet? I understand. Please wait a moment and I will go confirm the details.”

With that, the receptionist took my card and disappeared through a door behind him.

After only a short wait, though one long enough that the people behind me started to grumble, the receptionist appeared once again, this time together with the assistant guild master.

While it was difficult to tell since it was the standard guild uniform, but it felt like her outfit looked a bit more worn than it did yesterday. There were some dark circles under her eyes and her hair wasn't as well kept as it was the day before.

I wondered if she had just pulled an all-nighter or something.

(Now that I think about it, she looked pretty tired yesterday as well.)

”Miss Scarlet, it's good to see you in good health. The guild master is currently indisposed, so I will take any inquiries on his behalf. Is that acceptable?”

I nodded. Though I felt bad for giving even more work to someone who was visibly overworked, frankly, it was easier dealing with her rather than that muscle head. Though rather than a brain made of muscle, her brain worked so well it was scary. Just because it was easier to get things done with her didn't mean that I wouldn't lose out in the long run with her instead. But it was a risk I was willing to take as I couldn't even imagine what sort of negative consequence such a short interaction could have.

Well, I did just end up hoping that it wouldn't bite me in the ass in the future though.

”In that case, allow me to take you in a meeting room instead of out here in public. Please follow me.”

I did as she asked and we made our way up to the second floor and the last room down the hall. The assistant guild master opened the door and let me in first before closing it behind her.

”Please sit.”

She made her way around the single table in the middle of the room while gesturing towards the chair closest to the door before stopping behind the far chair.

”Would you like some tea?”

I sat down as instructed, but shook my head.

”I'm fine.”

”Is that so? I hope you don't mind if I partake in some myself.”

The assistant guild master placed a small pouch on the table and pulled out a small wooden barrel along with a white ceramic cup with intricate deep blue patterns painted on. She uncorked the little barrel and poured out a steaming fragrant tea that smelt faintly of blueberries and honey.

As she took a sip, despite tilting her head down towards her cup, it looked like she was still looking at me.

”Are you sure you don't want any? There's only enough for one more.”

She asked once more the moment she put the cup down.

”No, I'm fine.”

Strangely, I could swear that she frowned for a slight moment when I said that, but a smile returned so quickly that I couldn't help but think that it was just my imagination. She slowly put the little barrel back into her pouch despite it being larger than the little bag.

”Well, allow me to introduce myself once again. I am the assistant guild master of the Knossos Adventurers' Guild, Peitho Suada.”

”Scarlet.”

I gave her a polite nod along with my name even though she already knew it.

(Or rather, did she introduce herself because she figured I forgot her name already? Then again, it might be worth remembering her name for the future. Peitho Peitho Peitho Peitho Peitho...Peitho)

”So, may I ask why you have come to visit the guild so soon? Was there an an issue with the request we've made with you?”

”Ah, no, not quite an issue, but I did as you asked.”

”I see. So the reports of rumbling and flashes of light from the Firestone Mountain last night was you hunting the ash wyvern then?”

”It is.”

I didn't realize that they had noticed the fight.

(Were we that flashy or did they have someone close by to report on us?)

”I see. It might have been quite a furious battle then, considering that the guards stationed at the western gates were able to witness even a little bit of the battle.”

(Oh.)

”If that's the case, then may I see your proof of subjugation? I don't mind if it makes a mess in this room, or do you require more space?”

”Ah, no, rather...”

(And here's the problematic part.)

I could only hope that my gamble would work.

”I...don't have anything to show.”

”You don't have anything to show me, but you completed the request?”

”That's right. Umm...I did manage to deal with the target, but I had to do it by diverting a lava flow a bit. There's nothing left of the wyvern that I could find afterwards.”

”Is...that so.”

Peitho paused for a moment to take a sip of her tea before continuing.

”We'll have to send someone to confirm that there's no traces of the wyvern left. What about a nest?”

”I found something that looked like one. I just broke up the rocks in the area so it couldn't be used anymore. There weren't any eggs that I saw.”

”I see. That's a relief then.”

Peitho sighed out loud, the tension in her shoulders visibly relaxed for a moment before she fixed her posture.

”Since it will take time to confirm everything, we can't give you the money reward.”

”Yea, that figures.”

It wasn't like I needed the money in the first place so it wasn't even slightly painful. More annoying if anything since it meant that I'd have to return to this city someday to pick up my reward.

”On the other hand, as an apology to what happened yesterday in the guild master's office, I have already prepared the documents you have requested and hand that over as a preliminary reward.”

Saying that, she went into her little handbag and pulled out a few sheets of parchment.

(Oh, that's the first time I saw that.)

They almost looked like stiff sheets of paper, but the lack of any telltale signs of loose fibres anywhere, even on the edges despite the less than straight cuts and slight tears, indicated that it wasn't made of plant matter at all.

”I apologize that for a part of your requested information we couldn't actually find that much in our archives. It's possible that there is more in another city, but I doubt you'll find much without going to Nysa, the capital of Arcadia.”

Peitho placed two sets of sheets on the table in front of me. One was a stack of three, and had information about the metal mithril and mithril golems on the top page. Presumably the other pages were about orichalcum and adamantium golems. The other stack was of two pages, with the top page being about vampires.

<Do you know anything about this Arcadia or Nysa Claret?>

As I casually passed my eyes through the pages one at a time, I asked her about the names I've heard for the first time.

<Arcadia is the country of the fey folks to the south. Its mostly a forested region where most elves and fairies live at, and a lot of spirits tend to gather there as well. Nysa is the name of their capital.>